Yahoo Finance US Natural Gas Rig Count Fell to 29-Year Lows
What Are the Natural Gas Market's Key Supply and Demand Dynamics?
US natural gas rig count
Baker Hughes is scheduled to release its weekly US crude oil rig count report on April 22, 2016. The US natural gas rig count was almost flat at 89 rigs for the week ending April 15, 2016—compared to the previous week. So far, the gas rig count has fallen by 73 rigs in 2016.
US natural gas rig count fell
The US natural gas rig count peaked at 1,606 rigs on September 12, 2008. In contrast, the natural gas rig count hit 89 rigs for the week ending April 15, 2016. It’s the lowest levels in the last 29 years. US active natural gas rigs fell to record lows due to depressed natural gas prices. To learn more about natural gas prices, read the first part of this series.
The US natural gas drilling activity fell by 94% from its peak levels. The fall in drilling activity impacts oil and gas drillers like Pacific Drilling (PACD), Atwood Oceanics (ATW), and Diamond Offshore (DO). For more information on the US crude oil rig count, read US Crude Oil Rig Count Fell for the 4th Straight Week. The collapse of natural gas rigs hasn’t impacted the natural gas production. We’ll discuss this in the next part of the series.
EIA’s monthly drilling report
The EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) released its monthly drilling report on April 11, 2016. It reported that natural gas production in the seven major shale regions will decline in May 2016. The production is expected to fall by 491 MMcf (million cubic feet) per day to 45,929 MMcf per day in May 2016—compared to the previous month.
Impact on ETFs
The ups and downs in natural gas prices also impact ETFs and ETNs like the Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF (RYE), the Fidelity MSCI Energy ETF (FENY), and the VelocityShares 3x Long Natural Gas ETN (UGAZ).
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